Sci-fi Flash Fiction Double Take

Here’s two pieces I wrote for Flash! Friday, inspired by the photo below. They turned out to be two very different stories.

Homecoming

Everyone who had money, the right connections, or drew the short straw had left for the colonies. No one cared about the moon or mars when there were other planets. When you could get away from the war.

Tattered family photos were stuck on the workshop’s walls. Faith wiped her hands on a greasy cloth.

“It should work now.”

Her grandson flipped the switch and the beacon started transmitting.

“They left us here on this planet and now that they want to return you’re playing them music to welcome them? You’re daft, and they’re not worth my spit. They’re worse than the aliens.”

Faith fiddled with the switches to keep from hitting him.

 “You know how we survived the war? My parents sold my brother to the colony mines. And they kept him there forty years.”

The music played louder.

 “You look me in the eye and say he’s not worthy. You look him in the eye.”

Gemini V, August 29, 1965. Public domain photo courtesy of NASA

Research Topic: The Space Travel of Primitive Species on QW3491 (Working title)

Three students watched on a screen as the pod descended into the ocean. Their scanners assessed the passengers’ vital signs and took footage of the smiling faces.

“So… they survived?”

“Yup.”

“That’s a shame. Someone dying would have made the data interesting.”

“We weren’t supposed to mess with their instruments in the first place. You’re not supposed to intervene in societies, no matter how primitive. That’s the first thing we were taught.”

“Relax, it was just a bit of fun. This. Is. A. Boring. Place. And we’re not even allowed to set foot on the planet in case they see us.”

“So… as long as they don’t see us…”

“Hey, I’m not getting dissected in their primitive labs.”

“Please, that’s a campus legend! Look, we just camp in the desert somewhere for a night or two. No one will know. If I don’t get out of this research centre I’m going to go crazy.”

“Fine. I’ll bring the field kit.”

#453469289 / gettyimages.com